WVB National Championship: Day 1 Recap
Match 1: Lakeland Rustlers 3, MSVU Mystics 1
Defending champions, Lakeland Rustlers took the ACAA Conference Champions Mount Saint Vincent Mystics to four sets in the first game of the CCAA Women’s Volleyball Championships, 20-25, 25-22, 25-17 and 27-17.
The ACAA Conference leaders surprised the Rustlers and came out of the gate strong, taking the first set. A solid offensive performance lead by Ahnika Kus with 17 kills kept the Mystics on their toes, but it was the consistency of 5th year Alyssa Grondinwith 7 kills, 4 Digs and 4 blocks that earned her player of the game.
Mystics 3rd year Jenn Leckey recorded 9 Kills, 9 Digs and 1 service ace and was named player of the game. All-Canadian Jasmine Smith recorded 8 kills.
The Mystics match up with Boomerang d'André-Laurendeau tomorrow at 1pm and the Rustlers with the VIU Mariners tomorrow at 6pm
Lakeland’s Player of the Game: Alyssa Grondin
MSVU’s Player of the Game: Jen Lecky
Match 2: VIU Mariners 3, Boomerang d'André-Laurendeau 0
The VIU Mariners made quick work of the Boomerangs in three sets, 25-16, 25- 12 and 25-7.
All-Canadian Mikayla Wagner lead the charge on the offensive side with 7 kills, and Chantal Cummings’ 29 assists tested the Boomerangs defence. However, an impressive performance from rookie hitter Danielle Groenendijk with 8 kills, 2 digs and 2 aces earned her player of the game
3rd year setter Noemie Gagne with 6 digs and 18 assists was the Boomerangs player of the game
The Boomerangs match up with the Mystics tomorrow at 1pm.
The VIU Mariners will play in the first semi-final match-up against the Lakeland Rustlers at 6pm.
VIU’s Player of the Game: Danielle Groenendijk
André-Laurendeau’s Player of the Game: Noémie Gagné
Match 3: Humber Hawks 3, Élans de Garneau 2
Going into the tournament, 6th ranked Elans de Garneau took a commanding lead, taking the first two sets 29-27 and 25-21. The next two sets proved to be an exciting battle with Humber coming back to tie the match 2-2 with scores of 25-14 and 25-17. The final set went back and forth with the Hawks winning the 5th set 15-13 earning them a berth in the semifinals where they face the Douglas Royals.
Amassing a spectacular 20 kills and 13 digs Hawks co-captain Brynne Spence-Colemen was named player of the game. Roxane St-Amand was player of the game for Garneau with 7 kills and 5 digs.
The Humber Hawks will play in the second semi-final game at 8:00pm against the Royals.
The Elans de Garneau will be playing on the Bronze side against the GPRC Wolves at 3:00pm.
Humber’s Player of the Game: Brynne Spence-Coleman
Garneau’s Player of the Game: Roxane St-Amand
Match 4: Douglas Royals 3, GPRC Wolves 1
In front of a packed home gym, the GPRC Wolves put in a solid performance against the top ranked Douglas Royals. The match started out with an aggressive Wolves team that had a raucous crowd behind them cheering them on, losing a close first set 25-23. The Wolves evened up the match in the second set winning, 25-22.
The Royals dynamic offense combined with a solid defense proved to be too much for the Wolves, falling in the final two sets, 25-21 and 25-18.
With 14 kills and 16 digs, 3rd year, Megan Koch of the Wolves, played her heart out while earning her player of the game recognition. Setter, Jane Kepler with 31 assists and 7 kills put on a game winning performance as the Douglas player of the game.
The GPRC Wolves will be playing on the Bronze side against the Elans de Garneau at 3:00pm.
Douglas’ Player of the Game: Jane Kepler
GPRC’s Player of the Game: Megan Koch
